No sense in which _peer_ is used will answer here. I once thought that 'still' might be taken in the sense of quiet, tranquil; but I have been unable to find an instance of its being so used in composition. It seems, however, to have found favour in the eyes of Mr. Dyce. The reading generally adopted is that of Steevens, _piecing_; and though the usual meaning of this verb is, to eke, to add, it is also used in the sense of closing, filling. Mr. Dyce doubts if "a poet with a delicate ear would have written _piecing ... piercing_," not recollecting that the latter was pronounced _percing_. I should, however, prefer _fleeting_, which I have given in my Edition. In the Third Part of The Seven Champions (ch. xiii.), the author of which was more than once indebted to Shakespeare, or _vice versâ_, we read, "Whose feathery arrows outrun the _piercing_ eye, and cut a passage through the _fleetiag_ air." Spenser, too, has (F. Q. ii. 8. 2) "the _flitting_ sky (_i.e._ air)." Elsewhere he says (vii. 7 22) that the air is felt "to _flit still_," and in The Tempest (iii. 3) we meet with the "still-closing waters." At the same time, as 'peering' may have been suggested by 'piercing' in the next line, the poet's word may not have resembled it. * * * * * "I met the ravin lion when he roar'd." As 'ravin' only occurs as a verb, the poet probably used here the part. _ravening_. "As a ravening and a roaring lion" (Ps. xxii. 13) was evidently in his mind. * * * * * SC. 5. "Enter old Widow of Florence, her daughter, Violenta, and Mariana, with other citizens." This is the original stage-direction, in which Violenta--an evident mistake for Violante--might appear to be the name of the daughter, though she is always called Diana. Helen, however, at the end of the scene, mentions a 'gentle maid' along with Mariana, whom she invites to supper. * * * * * "I write good creature: wheresoe'er she is, Her heart weights sadly."